Prawn Biryani

Prawns are one of my favourites, and I cook them in numerous ways. I shall share all the recipes in due course.
A biryani is very quick and easy to jostle up, and a very good variation from eating prawn curry all the time.
Have a lime pickle handy, it goes really well with this dish.

Ingredients:
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Medium Prawns(peeled and deveined) - 250 gms
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Whole garam masala ( 3 cloves, 1 bay leaf, A small piece of cinnamon, 3 cardamoms)
Turmeric powder
Red Chilli powder
Salt
Biryani masala
Onions
Oil
Dry fruits for garnish

Method:
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1. Wash the prawns. Coat them in salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric and red chilli powder and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Wash and soak the rice for 30 minutes.After 30 minutes strain the water and set aside.
3. Slice onions finely and fry them in oil till brown and crisp.The trick is to drop only a small amount of onions in oil and fry them quickly on high heat, taking care not to burn them.
4. In a thick bottomed pan, put 2 tbsp of oil, add the whole garam masala and 1 1/2 tsp of biryani masala. Add the rice and salt and fry for 2-3 minutes.You can add turmeric for colour.Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir well so that no rice sticks to the bottom. Let the rice cook and absorb the water.Add more if necessary.In the end there should be no excess water left and the rice should be about 90% cooked.
                                                                      OR
If you find cooking rice in an open pan daunting,cook rice in a pressure cooker and just add the cooked rice to the masala in the above step (Made your life easier :-)).Fry it off and set aside.
5. Spread the rice on a plate taking care not to break the grains.
6. In a deep and thick bottommed pan, add 3 tbsp of oil. Fry the prawns for about 5 mins or till the water they ooze out gets dried.
7. Add the rice,dry fruits and fried onions to the prawns and give it a little mix. Cover tightly and cook on low flame for around 10 minutes.Check occassionally to see if the biryani is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Serve hot with lime / any spicy pickle.

Dhokar Dalna - Bengal gram dumplings in potato gravy

Valentine's Day 2012 - cannot understand the hype surrounding this day, so no special plans except.....Dhoka...what an irony on this day as 'Dhoka' in Hindi means to cheat... maybe I can cheat everyone into believing the dish turned out awesome ;-)

Wanted to try this classic for many years but could never muster the courage...it is known to be tricky...nevertheless gave it a go..lo and behold..beginner's luck paid off!!!

Ingredients:

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Chana Dal (Split Bengal gram) - 1 1/2 cup
Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf  - 1
Oil
Cumin powder - 1tbsp
Coriander powder - 1tbsp
Red chilli powder - to taste
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Potato - 1 medium,diced
Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Method:
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1. Soal the Chana dal for 6-8 hours.Blend to a thick paste in the mixer.
2. In a non-stick pan, add 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds,salt,1/2 tbsp of Asafoetida and some red chilli powder.Add the dal and stir quickly to mix the spices. Do not let it dry.
3. Apply oil on a plate and spread the warm mixture evenly on it.Try to keep the thickness uniform.Remove lumps if any had been formed in the dal.
4. Once the mixture has cooled cut into squares/ diamond shapes.These are the Dhoka See picture.
                                     
5. Fry the Dhoka in oil till brown on both sides.This step could play spoilsport as the Dhoka will split if the consistency of the dal mixture is not right.Thankfully, mine were safe.Here's how the fried pieces look like.

6. Add oil to a deep kadhai/pan.Add 1 tsp cumin seeds,1/2 tbsp asafoetida and a bay leaf.When the seeds splutter, add the diced potato,turmeric powder, salt and fry till golden.Add cumin and coriander powder, ginger paste and red chilli powder as per your taste.Cook the spices, adding a little water if needed.Once the oil separates, add water for the gravy.Let it simmer till the potatoes are cooked.You could add tomato puree to make the gravy thick.
7. Add the fried Dhoka pieces and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.Add the ghee and garam masala and take off the heat.Serve with white rice/pulao.